Messaging is one of a bundle of services that are provided with cellular phone services. Messaging may be estimated as a $300 Billion dollar industry, and it shows no sign of abating. Indeed, messaging itself is estimated to grow by almost an additional $30 billion per year in the upcoming years.
However, it is known that many consumers desire more control over their messaging. This need stems from such rationales as the risk of sending the wrong message to an incorrect recipient, sending an unartfully worded message, or sending a message composed when the writer is in an agitated emotional state or an otherwise regrettable message. This similarly extends to unintended or hasty social media posts, which may contain words that can get the sending individual in trouble personally, professionally, or socially. Occasionally, an individual may send a message (or submit a social media post) and ultimately wish that he or she could remove a message from the device of the receiver post-transmission. Often, by taking a little bit of extra time to think about a message or post that has been composed before it is actually sent or posted can nudge the individual away from making a critical mistake.
Every person who uses messaging or social media is at risk to these problems. Presently, there are approximately 6.8 billion active mobile subscriptions among a population of 7.25 billion human beings. If there were a way in which users could ensure that incorrect messages, poorly written messages, or messages/social media posts containing detrimental wording are not sent, either by accident or otherwise, the use of messaging and social media on mobile devices could be greatly enhanced. Additionally, if users were afforded the ability to edit messages post-transmission, users could effectively avert disaster in the event that a message is sent to the incorrect recipient, or a message is sent to a recipient that contains inappropriate or undesirable content.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a messaging and social media alert system solution that addresses deficiencies of prior art messaging technologies. Such a system is preferably equipped with features configured to facilitate safe and effective message transmission and reception. Features of such a system preferably include the ability to edit sent messages, the ability to send messages at a pre-established time in the future, the ability to send messages configured to expire after a pre-established time period has passed after opening the received message, and the ability to blacklist specific words and be alerted to their use within a message or social media post prior to message transmission.
While some features of the present invention are found within known messaging platforms, no messaging service presently available offers users the same amount of control over sent messages as does the present invention. For example, the popular social networking mobile device application Snapchat™, by Snap, Inc, affords users the capacity to transmit messages that expire within a defined time limit which is set by the sender. The recipient may only view the message for the duration of the time allotted by the sender. However, once the message is sent, the sender no longer has any control over the message beyond the user-selected view time duration. At any point during this view time, the recipient may capture a screenshot of the message, permanently saving the message to his or her device memory, effectively defeating the purpose of the message's expiration time. The sender is alerted to the screenshot, however the damage is done, and the sender is helpless to retain control of the prominence or sharing of the message. Additionally, Snapchat's limited messaging control features do not extend beyond the Snapchat app itself.
This is in stark contrast to the present invention, which affords the user much greater control over social media posts and messages, including expiring messages, even after they are sent. The option for a recipient (or indeed any user) to take a screenshot is never provided within the application of the present invention, unlike the prior art. Instead, if a recipient desires to save an expiring message, he or she must submit a request to the sender to obtain permission to save the message. If the sender provides this permission, the present invention allows the recipient to save the message easily within the application, without the use of a screenshot. If permission is not obtained from the sender, the message expires and is deleted permanently from the recipient's device.
Additionally, the solution provided by the present invention enables users to edit and/or delete messages after they have been sent to the recipient, unlike any present messaging solution on the market. The status of messages, including blip messages, is shown to the sender in order to provide the sender with full control and knowledge of the status of the message. As such, each message displays message statuses including ‘message sent,’ ‘message seen,’ (read), and ‘message received’ (unseen). Such features provide users ideal control and freedom over their messages to the extent that users have a much greater chance of avoiding regret or penalty for the messages they send than with conventional messaging applications.